Fernald: Tarbell building could become veterans housing

In the 14 months since the city’s $3.7 million purchase of the 200-acre Fernald property, the site has seen major cleanup efforts as its future is beginning to come into focus.

“It’s been an active year if nothing else,” said City Councilor John McLaughlin, chair of the Fernald Use Committee.

McLaughlin said the committee has met about six times since the purchase of the site, including last Tuesday, and are taking the steps to bring both public and private entities into the planning process.

On Tuesday, the committee first discussed the possibility of veterans housing at the Tarbell building on the property. Mayor Jeannette McCarthy said the four-story building had previously been used by the Middlesex Human Services Agency, which had 72 beds in the facility.

“With the renovation of the interior, it could have a lot of reuse without overdeveloping the Fernald site itself or the neighborhoods,” she said in a communication to the Veterans Services Committee of the Waltham City Council.

“I got the sense from both committee and mayor that we’re heading in the same direction,” McLaughlin said. “It was a very positive, upbeat meeting.”

The Tarbell building is located on the 50-acre parcel on the south side of the property, bought with city general funds. The rest of the property was bought with Community Preservation Act funds and its uses are restricted to recreation, open space and historic preservation.

In terms of the whole property, McLaughlin said the committee is moving toward hiring an outside firm to assist with the planning process.

“The consensus is it would be beneficial to bring someone in to take a look, especially at the back 50 acres,” McLaughlin said.

The next step in that process, according to McLaughlin, is to invite Joseph Pedulla, city purchasing agent, to the next meeting and explain the best way to hire an outside individual or firm.

Finally, McLaughlin said now that the committee is meeting more regularly, there needs to be a robust effort to engage the community and have residents come with ideas and questions to future public input meetings.

“We need to have that public process around what we’re doing and engaging the community so we’re not just piecemeal doing things,” said Councilor Joe Vizard, a member of the Fernald Use Committee.

Vizard said that he believes a big point of tension will be the future of the old and historic buildings on the site and determining how many should be preserved and how many should come down.

The city council voted last October to spend $1.2 million to demolish 20 non-historic buildings on the property, in order to restore wetlands and alleviate annual flooding on Linden Street, Waverly Oaks Road and Beaver Street.

McLaughlin said in the past year, the state, the former owners of the site, has removed about 100 working and non-working vehicles from the Fernald. McLaughlin said he hopes to have another committee meeting in the next two weeks and to hold a multiple-night public input hearing in the coming months.